It Was Not a Penalty

On June 29, 2014, Mexico played the Netherlands in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Brazil. In the 94th minute, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a penalty after a play between Rafael Márquez and Arjen Robben. The Netherlands won 2-1. Thousands of Mexican fans answered with the hashtag #NoEraPenal, “it was not a penalty.”

Robben later said: “Es deporte, es futbol, y creo que era penalti” (It is sport, it is football, and I think it was a penalty). In 2020, Márquez said in an interview: “Yo acepto el error porque al final fue penal porque lo marcaron” (I accept the mistake, because in the end it was a penalty, because they called it).

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